Earlier this year Green-e announced completion of the Green-e National Standard. The Green-e National Standard will replace Green-e region-specific and product-specific criteria documents. This standard will apply to all products – Competitive Electricity, Tradable Renewable Certificate and Utility Green Pricing – across the nation. This new single national Green-e standard will benefit renewable energy providers by presenting them with a simple, consistent standard they can reference as they develop renewable energy options in different regions and states. The Green-e National Standard will go into effect on January 1, 2007. Throughout 2006 products can be certified under the Green-e National Standard or under the region and product-specific criteria. The Green-e National Standard can be downloaded from the Green-e Web site, at www.green-e.org/pdf/Green-e_National_Standard.v1.pdf . Contact Siobhan Doherty at siobhan@resource-solutions.org, (415) 561-2118, for more information.

The Green-e Board met via conference call in March 2006 to discuss Section "III.A.1. Percentage of Use" in the Green-e National Standard. When CRS published the Green-e National Standard at the beginning of 2006, this section required that a minimum of 25% of the participating residential customer’s electricity come from renewable resources, but indicated that this requirement would increase to a minimum of 50% in 2008 pending Green-e Board approval in 2006. The Green-e Board met in March and decided to maintain the 25% minimum renewable requirement for residential customers. However, if a marketer or utility offered the option to offset less than 50% of a residential customer's electricity use, they must also offer a 100% option to residential customers. This ruling does not affect products sold in “blocks” (e.g. 100 kWhs per month).

You are invited to attend the nation’s leading green power marketing event, the Eleventh National Renewable Energy Marketing Conference, organized by the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS). Join us in San Francisco this December 3rd through 6th, and explore ways to design or expand a green power program, increase revenues, effectively market to target consumer segments, and enhance customer satisfaction. You won’t want to miss the insights shared by expert speakers and the outstanding networking opportunities. This is the preeminent conference for communicating directly with leading renewable energy and green power industry stakeholders. You will hear from national and regional experts on important topics such as: Lessons Learned from Leading Renewable Energy Providers, Renewable Energy and Carbon Markets, The Role of Regulators & Policy Makers in Shaping Renewables Markets, Communicating the Value of Renewable Energy to Consumers, and the Solar Revolution: Marketing On-Site Generation & Attributes. For more information, please see www.renewableenergymarketing.net. Contact Këri Bolding at kbolding@resource-solutions.org, (415) 561-2100, for more information.

The Center for Resource Solutions has just published the “Regulator’s Handbook on Renewable Energy Programs and Tariffs.” This Handbook is for regulators involved in the design of renewable energy programs, with a focus on tariffs. It suggests best practices for renewable energy program design and tariff setting and highlights successful renewable energy programs in a series of case studies. This handbook was made possible through support from the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP). This report can be downloaded from the CRS Library of Publications, at www.resource-solutions.org/lib/allpubs.html.